This invention relates to machines for attaching indicia (such as tax stamps, labels, tax codes, etc.) to packages, and more particularly to such a machine for applying such indicia to cigarette packages.
Various taxing bodies in most jurisdictions require that tax stamps be attached to every cigarette package offered for sale, and it is normally the duty of the tobacco products distributors in each area to purchase the tax stamps and attach them to the cigarette packages. For example, federal, state and counties may require such tax stamps. In recent years, tags or labels have also been attached to packages or cartons for anti-theft purposes and for sales record maintenance.
Because of the sales volume of such products, it is not practical to attach the stamps by hand and numerous machines have been developed for automatically attaching tax stamps to cigarette packages. For example, the A. C. Davis U.S. Pat. No. 3,513,616 describes a machine of this nature. As shown in FIG. 12 of the Davis patent, a backing sheet or web having tax stamps attached to it is fed into the machine, and the stamps are automatically transferred by the machine from the backing sheet to the packages while the packages are in the cartons. The standard in the industry is a backing sheet containing fifteen lines of stamps evenly spaced across the width of the sheet, and the stamps are heat transfer decals. The stamps are transferred while the packages are in the cartons, and the Davis machine also includes mechanisms for automatically opening the cartons and later reclosing and sealing the cartons.
There are two major problems confronting the industry in the foregoing procedure. First, in recent years there has been a proliferation of sizes of packages and cartons, and there are even different arrangements of the packages in the cartons. In the past these differences have necessitated a number of adjustments to the machine by an operator when switching from one size to another. Such adjustments, in addition to being time consuming and requiring some degree of skill, add to the cost and complexity of the machine.
Secondly, the distributors are required to place the stamps on the packages, as mentioned above, and there are numerous large and small distributors. As a consequence, a suitable machine that is acceptable to the industry should not be overly expensive or complex in construction, and it should be able to handle the standard sheet of stamps.
The Philip A. Deal U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,587 describes what is purported to be a "universal" tax stamping machine capable of handling different package sizes, but adjustments are required when switching from one carton size to another. For example, different pocket forming inserts are required for different carton sizes. Further, the machine cannot be used with the standard sheet of tax stamps that has fifteen lines of stamps. Instead, it requires numerous separate strips or ribbons of stamps (one line of stamps in each ribbon) and spacer discs between the strips.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an automatic tax stamp applying machine which is capable of handling a variety of carton and package sizes without adjustment, which is relatively inexpensive, and which is not overly complex.